ears old. On the night of August the 26th, 1634, there was a fire in the
town which burnt down two houses and caused great fear among the
inhabitants. Then among other entries on the back pages of register No. 2,
1615-53, appear recipes of this character:--

"A [cure?] for the dropsie in ye winter. Take a gallon of white wine and
broome ashes to the quantitie [a few indecipherable words] sifted and
drinke a pint thereof morning and [cause?] it [to?] be drunken also at
meale times with ones meats and at other times when one is drie a little
quantitie. Matthew Mitso ... e."

"For the same in Summer. Take a pecke of sage and bake it in a riddon (?)
pastie, and when it is baked to a hard crust breake there crust and all in
it ... and ... unne it up all into a barrell of drinke, and drinke it in
the Su[=m]er time especially in maye."

"_A remeadie for the stich._

"Take a j^d. of treacle a j^d of aqua-vite and a j^d of sal ... and apply
them to the place."

"_A medicine for wormes._

"Take lavander c ... unset leekes an ox ('or bull' _inserted above_) gall
and cu[=m]in seed, fry these togither with . (?) . and lay them warme in a
linnen clath to the childes belly."

Some other remedies that belong to this period were discovered by Mr
Blakeborough[1] in this neighbourhood. I have taken them from the original
seventeenth century writing:--

[Footnote 1: Calvert's MS. book in the possession of Mr Richard
Blakeborough. ]

"Take for to clear the eyes 1 ounce of dried batts bloode groude to powder
& white hens bloode & dung sift & when they be well mixed & quite dry then
blowe a little in the ill eye & yt shall soon be well."

_"For a pinne or ivebbe in ye eye._

"Take ye galle of an hare the gall of a mowerpate and of a wild cat and
honey and hogs lard a like quantity mix all together and annoynt y^e eye
w^th a feather dipped in yt and yt shalle be soon cured."

The details of a remedy "For a fallynge sickness" though possibly
considered very efficacious are too repulsive for modern ears.

The following recipe, "For the making of Honey Cakes. Certayne to be
acceptable to y^e Fairy Folk," is from the same source and is dated 1605:--

"Taike of wilde honey thre ounce, of powder'd dill sede half ounce swete
violet roote in fine powder 2 drachmes and six ounces of white wheaten
meal which you will bringe to a light dowgh these thinges being all mixed
together with faire water. This done with a silver spune helde in